Beyoncé lives in an alternate reality filled with couture and yachts and talent and fabulousness. Most lawyers -- and judges -- do not share that world.
But at the federal courthouse in Oakland, Queen B's words about girls running the world ring true. All six judges at the federal courthouse in Oakland are proud members of the XX-chromosome club, according to The California Report.
There are plenty of perks that come with living in California. Gorgeous landscapes. Fantastic weather. Generally progressive work environments. But when it comes to the highest concentration of the best law firms for women, Illinois has California beat.
This week, Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother released their latest list of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women. Nine Illinois firms made the cut. Eight firms in Washington D.C. were recognized. Six New York firms were honored.
There are only five California firms on the list.
California State Treasurer, Bill Lockyer, has filed for divorce from his wife, Nadia, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
Lockyer is a household name among California lawyers, thanks to his prominent tenure as the state’s Attorney General from 1999 to 2007.
As Attorney General, Bill Lockyer was unconventional. Bill was known for being a liberal Democrat who favored the death penalty. He shocked California judges by arguing cases personally, as Attorney General. In 2000, he appeared before the state Supreme Court in the case of Hi-Voltage Wire Works Inc. v. City of San Jose, a move that has been dubbed by California Lawyer Magazine as the most controversial thing he did as AG.
He is also recognized for establishing one of the largest civil rights offices in the country, and fighting against elder abuse.Dear Aspiring California Lawyers:
Hi there! We hope your studies are progressing, your flashcards are finished, and your outlines are dog-eared and showing signs of love.
In two weeks, the unpleasantness that is the California bar exam will be behind you. You're probably getting nervous. That's normal. The most important thing you can do between now and July 26 is focus. Tune out everything else around you, and study.
If you are fortunate enough to have a busy legal practice, it may be hard to force yourself to take a vacation. But you should consider it; a little time off can head off burnout.
Since we're in the middle of the summer, it seems like an appropriate time to discuss how to prepare to leave your office behind for a break. Here are five attorney vacation tips to help prevent your trip from causing you trouble:
Let’s talk about alternative legal careers.
Back in law school, the career services staff thought we were crazy when we said that we had no interest in practicing law. When we asked for assistance with alternative legal careers, they asked, “Why are you in law school?”
Some people land in law school upon realizing that a liberal arts degree offers few job opportunities and even less job security. Others know early in life that they want to be lawyers. (One of our friends swears that he showed up for his first day of kindergarten with his copy of Black’s Law Dictionary.)
Wherever you fall within the legal career realization spectrum, Law Day is a chance for you to share your knowledge about the law with people in your community who may not fully understand how the legal process works. Which would be most of them.
Lawyers make a lot of money, and just maybe, California law firms are part of the problem instead of the solution.
In the '90s, Silicon Valley powerhouse Gunderson Dettmer kicked off the salary shift in the Bay Area by offering new associates $125,000 salaries, which prompted competitors to match the blockbuster salaries. The cost of the salaries was passed along to the consumer as an increase in legal fees, reports Forbes.
Law and art regularly collide. There are intestacy and divorce battles over art collections. There are copyright infringement lawsuits against pop stars who base their music videos on famous photographs. There are models charged with public lewdness for posing nude ... among nude paintings.
From March 9 through April 19, SOMArts, located at 934 Brannan Street in San Francisco, will take a closer look at the intersection between law and art in a special exhibition called, "I Am Crime: Art on the Edge of Law."
There are a number of ways that you can while away the day on your iPhone. Angry Birds. Facebook. Antograph. Apps, you see, have replaced eyes as the windows to the soul.
Now, California lawyers have a new app option: the FindLaw Legal News App.
Sure, legal news is available all over the Internet, but the FindLaw Legal News App lets you search by topic, (e.g., criminal, injury, family), or geographic location, (e.g., Los Angeles, New York, Chicago), to quickly find the news that's relevant to you. That saves you time, and relieves the guilt associated with reading information that you can't bill for.
